Dhaka: Postal ballots have so far been sent to 677,233 expatriate voters residing in various countries worldwide, enabling them to participate in the upcoming 13th Jatiya Sangsad election and referendum.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the Election Commission (EC) reported that a total of 1,533,683 voters have registered via the “Postal Vote BD” app to cast their votes by postal ballot. Out of these, 761,141 voters registered under the “In-country postal vote” category within the country, while 772,542 expatriate voters registered from different countries globally.
Salim Ahmad Khan, Team Leader of the Out of Country Voting System and Implementation (OCV-SDI) project, stated that efforts are underway to ensure postal ballots are dispatched to expatriates by January 10. He also mentioned that symbols would be allocated on January 21 and expressed optimism that the ballots would reach voters abroad before this date.
Regarding ballot secrecy, Salim Ahmad Khan highlighted that it is the responsibility of expatriates who receive postal ballots to maintain their secrecy. He added that national identity cards (NIDs) of those violating ballot secrecy might be blocked.
EC sources disclosed that postal ballots were sent to 41,464 expatriates in various countries on Tuesday evening. Among these, the highest number of ballots, 17,759, were dispatched to Singapore, followed by 12,000 to Saudi Arabia.